MakeMyTrip India CEO Rajesh Magow rejoins Flipkart board

Magow's re-appointment comes at a time when the online retail giant is also expected to have representatives from Tencent, Softbank and other global investorsBiswarup Gooptu | ET Bureau | September 23, 2017, 09:06 IST

Source: YouTubeRajesh Magow, chief executive and co-founder of MakeMyTrip, India's largest online travel operator, has rejoined the board of Flipkart, the country's largest online retailer, a little over two years after stepping down from the same.

Magow's re-appointment as an independent director, comes at a time when the Bengaluru-headquartered online retail giant is also expected to have representatives from Tencent, Softbank and other global strategic investors on its board over the next few months, having announced a mammoth $4 billion in funding, across two rounds, earlier this year.

When contacted by ET, MakeMyTrip spokespersons confirmed the development. "I have always admired Flipkart for the impact it has made in India’s e-commerce space over the years, I am happy to join the Flipkart board," Magow said in a short statement.

Magow’s previous stint on the Flipkart board was between May 2012 and May 2015. In that period Flipkart had raised almost $2.5 billion in funding.

Magow, who currently heads MakeMyTrip India, played a critical role, along with Deep Kalra, group CEO of MakeM in shepherding the company's initial public offering on Nasdaq in 2010, in the process, making it the first Indian internet company to list on a US bourse.

The MakeMyTrip India CEO has played a gamut of roles within the Nasdaq-listed company, having also held the critical roles of chief financial officer and chief operating officer over his decade-plus stint in the company, which has a market capitalisation of $2.70 billion as of Friday.

Prior to joining MakeMyTrip, the chartered accountant was the finance head of the Indian unit of online travel company eBookers, which was later acquired by Cendant Corp in 2005.